War crimes and just war / Larry May.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

May, Larry.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War (Philosophy).

Physical Description:

xi, 343 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Summary:

War crimes are international crimes committed during armed conflict. Larry May argues that the best way to understand war crimes is as crimes against humaneness rather than as violations of justice. He shows that in a deeply pluralistic world, we need to understand the rules of war as the collective responsibility of states that send their citizens into, harm's way, as the embodiment of humanity, and as the chief way for soldiers to retain a sense of honor on the battlefield. Humanitarian considerations of mercy and compassion count morally in war, even if soldiers fight with just cause and their opponents have committed atrocities. Throughout, May demonstrates that the principle of humaneness in the cornerstone of international humanitarian law and is itself the basis of the traditional principles of discrimination, necessity, and proportionality. He draws extensively on the older Just War tradition to assess recent cases from the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia as well as examples of atrocities from the archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Contents:

Introduction

Justifying war but restricting tactics

The just war tradition and war crimes

Humanitarian concerns

Justificatory hurdles

Classifying war crimes

Summary of the arguments of the book

Philosophical groundings

Collective responsibility and honor during war

The moral equality of soldiers

The honor of soldiers

Collective responsibility for increased vulnerability

Harming humanity and war crimes prosecutions

Protected persons during war

Jus gentium and minimal natural law

Grotius on the sources of jus gentium

Grotian natural law theory and the rules of war

Refining the principle of humanity

Connecting consensual and universal sources of the rules of war

Humane treatment as the cornerstone of the rules of war

The Geneva conventions and international humanitarian law

The concept of humane treatment

Compassion and minimal suffering

Mercy, equity, and honor

Human rights and humane treatment

Problems in identifying war crimes

Killing naked soldiers : combatants and noncombatants

Some notes on the metaphysics of social groups

Identifying soldiers and civilians

The guilty and the innocent

The case of the naked soldier

Saving the principle of discrimination

Shooting poisoned arrows : banned and accepted weapons

An absolute ban?

Gentili on the use of poisons

Grotius and fairness in contests

Minimizing suffering

Poisoning and necessity

Torturing prisoners of war : protected and normal soldiers

Grotius on slaves and prisoners

Confinement and torture

Fiduciary and stewardship obligations

The moral equality of prisoners of war

Refocusing the proportionality principle

Normative principles

The principle of discrimination or distinction

Focusing on status rather than behavior

Humane treatment and discrimination

The naked soldier returns

Objections

Individualism and collectivism

The principle of necessity

Poisons and aerial bombardment

Necessity and humane treatment

Necessity in domestic and international criminal law

Formulating a test for military necessity

Relating proportionality and necessity

The principle of proportionality

The israeli case

Humane treatment and proportionality

Proportionality and weighing lives

Connecting the normative principles of jus in bello

Prosecuting war crimes

Prosecuting soldiers for war crimes

The Kvocka case

The men's REA of camp guards

Criminal liability of soldiers

Joint criminal liability

Collective liability and international crime

Prosecuting military leaders for war crimes

The case against General Blaskic

Blaskic's appeal

The men's REA of leaders

Negligence in international criminal law

Benighting acts, willfulness, and pre-commitment

Commanded and commanding defenses

Military leaders and necessity

Soldiers and duress

Mitigation of punishment for war crimes

War and coercion

Treating soldiers and commanders humanely

Epilogue and conclusions

Should terrorists be treated humanely?

The problem of terrorists

Who are the terrorists?

What terrorists are owed?

Honor and instilling humaneness

Tu quoque

Conclusions and the grotian project.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

052187114X

9780521871143

0521691532

9780521691536

OCLC:

68711951

Online:

Publisher description